Israel said its fighter jets killed a Hamas commander in a strike on a densely populated refugee camp in Gaza, an attack that also killed at least 50 Palestinians as fighting intensified in the enclave where food, fuel and supplies are running scarce.
The Israeli military said 11 soldiers were also killed in fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, the biggest one-day loss for the armed forces since Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 300 soldiers and some 1,100 civilians.
Israel’s Army Radio said most of the dead were infantrymen whose vehicle was struck by an anti-armor missile. Shelling and air strikes continued over Gaza overnight, witnesses said.
Israel sent its forces into Gaza following weeks of air bombardments in retaliation for the attack by Iran-backed Hamas, and an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said the airstrikes on Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, had killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander it said was “pivotal” in the planning and execution of the assault.
Dozens of Hamas combatants were in the same underground tunnel complex as Biari and were also killed when it collapsed in the attack, an IDF spokesperson said. The IDF was looking into non-combatant casualties, he added.
